


Object Lesson

by elyssblair



Series: Lessons [1]
Category: Eureka
Genre: Gen, Post canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 22:49:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elyssblair/pseuds/elyssblair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm not up for therapy… pretty much ever. So, how do I end this session and get back to the real world?"<br/>The hologram froze again, longer this time, before it jerked back into action.<br/>"I am programmed to guide and advise you. My goal is to help you make a breakthrough and find some answers."<br/>Zane nodded and pinched his nose at the non-answer.<br/>"Seriously, there's no off button?"</p><p>Or... Zane has an unexpected epiphany about his love life, Eureka-style...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Object Lesson

**Author's Note:**

  * For [speakingwosound (sev313)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sev313/gifts).



> A/N This work is connected to 'Seeing the Unseen' but they each stands alone as a story. The author's suggested reading order is 'Seeing the Unseen' then 'Object Lesson'. However, if you prefer reading stories in chronological order, 'Object Lesson' is set first.
> 
> Has spoilers from the series (especially seasons 4 and 5).
> 
> Also, thank you to my beta for all the help, support and hand-holding!

"Damn it, Zane. You're head of Section 5. Don't you think it's time you grew up?" Jo glared at him, full _Special-Forces-don't-fuck-with-me_ scowl firmly in place.

Zane smirked and leaned against the wall of the corridor where she'd cornered him.

"C'mon Jo-Jo. Being a responsible adult doesn't mean you have to have your sense of humor surgically removed." He shrugged unrepentantly and let a little more teeth show. "Besides, Section 3 started it. And the blue dye will wash out in a couple of days."

A low rumbling sound in her throat let him know he'd probably pushed her too far. Again. In the three months they'd been engaged, their relationship had slowly devolved into a series of escalating fights over stupid little things followed by make-up sex. Lately, though, the sex was becoming scarcer and scarcer.

Thankfully her PDA trilled before she could lay into him.

"What?" She barked into the silver square and turned away from Zane.

"Dr. Leopold? Have you checked his office?" Her eyes narrowed in disbelief and her lips pinched in frustration. "Look, even at GD, an office can't just disappear without leaving some kind of trace… It what? Never mind. I'll be right there."

Slamming the phone back into her pocket, Jo started scrolling through her tablet and marched toward the elevator.

Zane considered a strategic retreat to his own office but that didn't sound like any fun. Instead, he tucked his hands into his jean pockets and strolled into the elevator after her, whistling faintly as the doors closed behind them.

"What are you doing?" She asked without looking up from the information flashing on her screen.

"Missing scientist _and_ office sounds way more interesting than the reports I have waiting for me on my desk."

Her glare lifted to scorch him with accusation. "Did you have something to do with this?"

He held up his hands, palms out in placation. "Hey, I don't even know who Dr. Leopold is."

"He specializes in Behavioral Science and Psychiatry," she answered, but her attention had already shifted back to her tablet.

"So, what happened to him? And his office?"

Her lips pulled tight in that fake, thin smile and she shook her head. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be on my way to his office to investigate, would I?"

He continued to stare at her steadily, refusing to rise to the bait until she sighed and shrugged.

"Grace was supposed to meet him for coffee this morning at his office to talk about some neural interface project he's working on. When she got there, there was no sign of him and his door just opened into nothingness, so she reported it to security."

"Nothingness?"

"That’s how the security officer said she described it. No office. No furniture. No walls. Nothing."

The elevator opened and she strode out with the clipped pace that always made Zane have to skip a little to catch up.

Half a dozen doors down the hall, they found Grace, looking concerned.

"Still no word on Dr. Leopold?"

Grace shook her head and nodded toward the door. "Nope. And no change in there, either."

"Okay, we'll take it from here. I know you and Henry have a standing lunch date. Go ahead."

The lines of anxiousness eased and Grace smiled. "Thanks."

As soon as Grace had moved on, Jo turned toward the door.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here." With a quick push of buttons, she entered her override code and the door swished open.

White. Glaring blank white. Nothingness had been the right word.

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out what's going on."

It took a second for Jo's intention to register and by the time Zane reacted, she was already halfway into the white.

"Jo, wait, no. Let me do some scans first." He reached out to grab her elbow, but her momentum pulled him off balance and they both stumbled into the blinding whiteness.

 

#

Zane squeezed his eyes tight against the bright, painful white. Behind him, he heard the whoosh of the door closing, followed by the disheartening sound of the locking mechanism engaging with a resounding click.

"Jo!" His voice echoed slightly but there was no other sound. "JO! Damn it, answer me. Are you ok?"

Still, only silence answered him. Risking a headache, he carefully slitted his eyes open but they widen abruptly in surprise. Around him, the white had transformed into an old fashioned office.

Zane groaned when he realized why the room looked familiar. The huge antique desk, high backed chair, and leather fainting couch called to mind every generic psychiatrist's office in every movie he'd ever seen.

"You have got to be kidding me. Jo, you seeing this? Jo?"

A more thorough glance around showed him his fiancée was nowhere to be seen. A flicker behind the desk drew his attention as a hologram coalesced into a fussy little man in wire rim glasses and an argyle sweater. Zane shivered a little, memories of the Matrix making cold sweat prickle along his skin.

"Who are you? What's going on here? Where the hell is Jo?"

The man smiled reassuringly then leaned back and tapped his pencil as he spoke.

"I am the virtual representation of Dr. Pierce Leopold. This is the prototype for PNT. Personal Neural Therapy. My creator has blended the technology of the Bio-Cortex recorder and cutting edge virtual reality programming."

Zane squinted at him. "Why?"

The virtual doctor sighed and his head drooped. "After Beverly Barlowe's betrayal, many of Eureka's residents are leery of revealing their secrets to another mental health professional. This technology allows individuals to interact with a program that contains all the knowledge of several esteemed psychologists and therapists while remaining completely confidential. The only copy of the session is in the patient's memory."

"Uh huh." Zane didn't really care about quack science and he certainly didn't have any intention of spilling his guts to a shrink, virtual confidentiality or not. "Where's Jo?"

The image froze for a moment as if the program was searching. When it moved again, Zane nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise.

"There are two other sessions ongoing. It is possible your friend is one of the other patients. As I said, however, all sessions are completely confidential so I cannot tell for sure."

Two sessions. Well, at least that explained where Dr. Leopold had gone. He'd gotten caught up in his own prototype. The grin spreading across Zane’s face was evil and he knew it. Jo. In therapy. She was going to _love_ that. He'd pay money to see it.

But first, he had to get out of the VR.

"I'm not up for therapy… pretty much ever. So, how do I end this session and get back to the real world?"

The hologram froze again, longer this time, before it jerked back into action.

"I am programmed to guide and advise you. My goal is to help you make a breakthrough and find some answers."

Zane nodded and pinched his nose at the non-answer.

"Seriously, there's no off button?"

"I'm afraid therapy does not work that way."

He glared at the virtual doctor but it didn't have any effect. He was pretty sure with the Bio-Cortex Recorder as part of the mix, he wasn't even going to be able to fake his way through this, like he had with every other 'mental health review' he'd ever been forced to endure.

With a sigh, Zane flopped down onto the couch and rested his forearm over his eyes.

"So, what? You want me to talk about my childhood? My absentee father? My first felony?" Zane didn't bother to hide the cynicism. He doubted he'd hurt the holograms feelings.

"How about we start with what's bothering you most, today?"

"Oh, just the usual. I can't be in the same airspace with my fiancée longer than sixty seconds before we're ripping chunks out of each other."

"Hm."

Zane had a feeling he was going to be hearing the traditional, clichéd response a lot.

"Why do you think that is?" Leopold asked.

"Because she's completely insane?" The automatic, flippant response burst out of him but he heard the faint tsking sound of disapproval and sighed. "Because most of the time I feel like I'm competing with a ghost."

"Ghost of whom?"

"Me."

A pause. Zane was pretty sure, if he looked up, the hologram would be doing that statue impersonation again.

"I do not understand."

"It's complicated." And, apparently, Dr. Leopold wasn't the only one dealing in clichés today.

"Perhaps if you start at the beginning…"

And wasn't that the six million dollar question. Where did it start? In this timeline, his timeline? Or Jo's?

"I suppose, it started for me, when Fargo and I accidentally got launched into space."

Before that, there had been hints. Things Jo had said. The ring.

But, mostly, the way the time-travelers treated him. Before Founder's Day, he'd been Zane Donovan, felon. Untrustworthy, reckless and a disappointment.

After, they treated him like an equal. They'd ask for his help and expected the best from him instead of the worst. And he'd surprised himself by trying to live up to that expectation.

"I really knew for sure that something drastic had changed because of Fargo. The Director Douglas Fargo I knew was a self-important blow hard. A complete dick who panicked and hid in every crisis then took credit when other's saved his bacon."

But it had been Zane panicking in that capsule. Fargo had remained cool and focused and optimistic. He'd found a way to save them from crashing into the space station. Then he'd worked _with_ Zane to get the FTL working properly, not just standing back and shouting orders. He'd become someone that Zane could respect, maybe even like, instead of a straw-figure good for nothing but disdain and ridicule.

"Even with everything we did, it was still fifty-fifty whether we'd survive the trip home or not. He didn't have to tell me about Jo and everything, but he did."

And not just about Jo. About the whole group. Fargo had made it clear that Zane had been a friend and a part of the improvised family. That they, all of them, had been close. Had trusted and depended on each other.

"He told me Jo and I had been very much in love. Like it was some kind of fairytale or something."

It was a tantalizing glimpse of what Zane had never really let himself admit he wanted. A family, of sorts. Someone who loved him unconditionally. People who accepted him for who he was.

Maybe the idea of the relationship got all twisted up with the idea of being accepted.

"What did you do, when you found out about your relationship?" The virtual doctor had the monotone, non-judgmental tone down perfectly.

"What do you think I did? She's smoking hot." He moved his arm and grinned at the doctor with a leer that was completely ignored.

"So it was only physical, then?"

Zane frowned and covered his eyes again.

"No. Actually, we became friends. Sort of. Worked together trying to get picked for the Astraeus crew. She said we'd skipped that part, the first time around."

It had been nice, sort of. When she wasn't being all bristly and reserved. It hadn't surprised Zane that they hadn't been friends first, the other time. He'd never taken the time to get to know any of his lovers before. Of course, considering most of his affairs lasted only a week or two, he'd never stuck around to get to know them after, either.

Which was why, after they'd become lovers, he'd been surprised by his own frustration. That arm's length she kept him at became a brick wall. One she reinforced regularly to make sure he never got through.

"After I got the pardon and hinted that I might leave Eureka altogether, she didn't say a word. Fargo was the only one who asked me to stay. There he was, holding off on sex so he could enjoy the journey with Holly. And having sex was an excuse for Jo to regress us back to little more than fuck buddies."

He'd been envious of Fargo. That earnestness and honesty. The way he and Holly accepted each other, no strings, no half-truths or barriers of self-preservation.

"When Jo quit the Astraeus program, I felt like she was quitting on me. She wouldn't even promise to wait the measly six months I'd be gone." A hot wave of anger flared through him. "Hell, she didn't even wait to make sure we made it safely to Titan before she went on her walk-about."

"But she came back, obviously. That must have meant something?"

#

How to explain how fucked up he was, everyone was, when they finally escaped the Matrix?

When Zane had thought Jo was with Carter the anger had been like another person living in his skin with him. The sense of betrayal and abandonment had been a burning, palpable companion.

When he'd fought his way free, he'd just been happy that it hadn't been real. That she had come back. Even if she still refused to give their relationship a label. When she couldn't even say for sure what it was she wanted. Zane had a healthy enough ego to trust he could get his way if he only applied enough charm.

Then there was Fargo. He'd lost more than all of the rest of them in Beverly's virtual world. How could Zane complain about still having time and chances with Jo when Fargo had lost Holly so brutally and irrevocably?

"When Fargo was wearing that grief patch, I felt for the frustration and anger seething through him. Then later, sitting on the couch, he looked so small and lost, my own jealousy was a petty concern. I was awed by the passion and devotion he felt for Holly."

Zane remembered sitting down next to him and feeling the weight of the man's grief in the weight of the head on his shoulder. He'd promised himself then that he'd do whatever it took to get Fargo through the pain and loss.

Later, when Fargo was fighting to save Holly before the DoD wiped the Matrix computer completely, Zane had wanted to smack Jo. How could she callously tell the man who had grieved so sharply to give up, to let Holly go, when there was still a chance?

"I had to wonder if she'd give up on me so easily, you know? Would she have just pulled the plug if it had been my brainwaves trapped in some subroutine? I didn't dare ask her though. I really didn't want to hear the answer. Not when I was watching Fargo risk his career and his life for Holly."

#

"Surely the two of you must have something in common? A connection of some sort that brought you together? Has kept you together?"

Zane opened his mouth to answer but closed it with a snap. He had nothing. Not one thing that they agreed on.

His lips twisted in wry self-depreciation. "I don't suppose our friends, hot sex and a relationship in an alternate timeline count?"

Shifting his arm to his side, Zane tilted his head back to focus on Leopold. Huh. Apparently the hologram could get that same pinched, disapproving look Jo had given him this morning. He sighed and dropped his head back on the padded leather.

"She doesn't even have a sense of humor," he muttered more to himself than to the virtual doctor.

Hell, she'd even managed to suck the fun out of Feynman Day. Who the hell tries to make people get pre-approval for pranks? Seriously, she didn't have a spontaneous bone in her body.

It had still been one of the best days of his life. Despite the growing friendship and acceptance he felt from Carter, Fargo and the others, part of Zane had still wondered if it was all a mistake. He was still a former felon, pardon or not. A wise-ass and an underachiever.

He'd been given a chance he hadn't even known he wanted. To be a part of the mixed-up pseudo-family Eureka had cobbled together. To find out if he could be more than the label of troublemaker he'd embraced whole-heartedly. But only because of a freaky hitch in the timeline.

He kept waiting for everyone to wake up and remember he wasn't worth their time or affection.

"When Larry told me I'd been promoted to head of Section 5, I was sure it was a joke. A cruel one," he added softly. "I've never been ambitious. Not like that. But this, the promotion, meant much more than just a job and a pay raise."

He'd been half afraid to ask Fargo about it. Afraid that the director would say it was a mistake or a prank, after all. Afraid it would be taken away. Worse, afraid Fargo would laugh at him, amused that he believed himself capable of that kind of responsibility.

But he'd needed to know. Needed to be sure Fargo remembered exactly who he was promoting. He wanted to stop the words that poured out when Fargo told him he deserved the job, but he couldn't help it.

_"No. No I don't. Everyone knows I'm a maturity challenged screw-up with little to no capacity for leadership."_

_"That's what everyone knew about me, too. It took a timeline shift to throw me into the deep end. But I swam. So will you."_

He'd been floored by the answer, but even more by the certainty, respect, and trust in the tone. It had left him speechless for a second, a warm tightness wrapped around him at the unhesitating faith.

"Fargo believed in me, when I didn't even believe in myself. Everybody trusted me to be smart. No one before had ever trusted me to do the right thing with my genius. They always expected the worst and I gave it to them. Because I didn't expect any better, either."

He took a deep breath and swallowed down the emotion threatening to fill his throat.

"I promised myself I'd do everything I could to Holly back for him. To give him the happily ever after he deserved."

It took a few more twists and terrifying turns than Zane had expected, but they got her back.

"Holly and Fargo, at least, managed to get their fairytale ending."

The silence rang hollowly for a few seconds before the doctor asked softly, "You don't think you and Jo will get a fairytale ending of your own?"

"No." Zane laughed, a twisted bittersweet sound when he realized he didn't expect anything even close to that, anymore. "No, the best we can hope for is to be the object lesson at the end of some morbid fable."

#

"Then why did you get engaged?"

"Because she asked."

The answer blurted out of his lips before Zane even thought it through. As soon as he said it, though, he knew it was true. A truth he hadn't even admitted to himself as he'd watched their relationship deteriorate for the past three months.

"That's the only reason?" The hologram leaned forward, looking intent at getting the full answer from his patient.

Zane shrugged. "There was the whole _destined to be together_ thing. Like, if it worked in the other timeline, it should work in this one."

The doctor remained silent and continued to stare thoughtfully.

Zane scrubbed his hand over his eyes, but the truth, the real truth, was that everything had been changing.

He'd finally found a place, and a family of sorts, where he fit. Where he could be himself, the Zane he hadn't even known until five people went walk-about in the time stream. Then, in the blink of an eye, the DoD had taken it all away, again.

Carter and Allison had been packing up S.A.R.A.H. and discussing his posting reassignment options. They'd had no idea, yet, what was going to happen with Grace and Henry. Jo was talking about D.C. and Area 51. Fargo was going off on some super secret job with Holly. Yeah, Zane had just as many options, but he was going to be alone. Again. Starting over with nothing but the reputation the rest of the world still held against him.

A dark, cool tide swept through him. The anger and despair and frustration at being abandoned again. It was irrational and immature and it didn't matter. Mr. Spontaneous, Mr. Risk Taker, hadn't wanted anything to change. He'd wanted his new world to stay intact.

"Your family was breaking up. Jo offered you a way to hold on to a part of it."

"Yeah." It wasn't a question, but Zane answered it with a tight, pained voice all the same. Guilt and regret followed quickly on the heels of the sudden revelation.

He so owed Jo an apology.

He’d have to borrow the anti-impact armor they'd been working on before he gave it to her, though.

"Do you love her?"

This question felt like a blow to Zane’s chest. It stopped the breath in his lungs and kicked his pulse into high gear.

He did love Jo. And the sex was smokin'. But he wasn't _in_ love with her.

Fuck.

There wasn't enough armor in all of GD for _that_ conversation.

The shrink nodded quietly despite Zane's silence then it paused, the hologram going still for much longer than before. When it jerked into movement again, the expression had smoothed out into a thoughtful gaze.

"You realize there has been a common thread among the memories you've shared in this session?"

Zane sighed and closed his eyes. "Yeah. Jo and I have nothing in common. My feelings for her got all twisted up with being part Eureka's fucked up version of family. The alternate timeline telling us it _should_ work. We weren't really meant to be, this time around, though, I don't think."

"Well, yes, that too. But there's something else. Or, I should say, some _one_ else. Someone you seem to have a great deal more in common with. Someone you do seem to have a rapport and a deeper connection with."

"What?" Zane's eyes went wide and he stared at the image of the doctor. "Who?"

The hologram's mouth opened but no sound came out. The imaged flickered, jerked and faded. Then the room followed, flashing to bright, brilliant white.

#

Temporarily blinded, the sound of the door being forced open made him blink away the sparks in his eyes and try to push himself up. His body was stiff and tired, though, and he collapse back. When he finally forced his eyelids open, he was on the floor of an office much more modern, clinical and boring than Leopold's virtual model.

Jo lay a few feet away but she was focused beyond him, her gaze was naked and raw as she stared at the figure in the doorway. Zane couldn't miss everything he was sure she would never want him to know. He followed her eyes, turning to see Carter, oblivious as always, faced away and shouting to the crowd behind him.

"They're here! Get medical in here to check them over."

When Zane looked back, Jo's face was composed and impassive once again. He knew, now, he wasn't the only one Leopold's device had put through the ringer. The revelation of her feelings for someone else didn't sting like it had in the Matrix. Instead, he felt a twist of sympathy. This Carter wasn't that one. He was completely devoted to Allison and their growing family.

A groan behind them made Zane twist to see Dr. Leopold, the real one, face down on the glass and metal desk.

Then the medical team was in his face, fussing and prodding and ignoring his attempt to wave them off.

#

Hours later, Zane stood in the kitchen of his apartment, beer in hand as he leaned against the counter and tried to release the stress of the day. A little stiffness and residual soreness were the only side effects he, Jo and Leopold had suffered from the hours they'd been trapped in the crazy PNT device. The mental ones, however, were another story altogether.

After escaping the invasive poking of the medical staff, he'd thrown himself into checking on every single project in Section 5. He'd wandered from one lab to another, trying to keep thoughts of his adventure in Leopold's virtual therapy at bay through constant movement and sheer stubbornness. He'd also been studiously avoiding Jo. Considering that she ducked and changed direction every time _she_ saw _him_ , it hadn't been difficult at all.

Now, though, there was nothing to distract him from the echo of virtual Leopold's final words.

_Someone you seem to have a great deal more in common with. Someone you do seem to have a rapport and a deeper connection with._

Who?

He sipped at his beer and tried to remember what he said, and thought, in Leopold's lab. He'd been talking about Jo, mostly. He'd mentioned nearly everyone, at one point or another. He'd talked about Holly and Fargo, a lot, he supposed. But while Holly was hot, she wasn't his type. Hell, he had more of a connection with—

Zane froze and jerked the bottle of beer away from his mouth before he choked on it.

It was ridiculous to think Leopold had meant Fargo. Not that Zane wasn't equal opportunity in his affection. Man or woman. It hadn't matter. But he'd always gone for sexy, fit and physical. Not that Fargo wasn't attractive, in a cute, quirky, brilliant sort of way. But conversation and common interests had never been on the top of his list.

And look where that had gotten him. Yeah, he had managed to be friends with Jo before jumping into bed with her, but it still hadn't left them with that much to talk about. It hadn't left them with anything to feel connected or compatible about.

He thought about the feel of Fargo, leaning on him, literally and figuratively while he grieved for Holly. And the way he'd pushed and fought to help Fargo bring her back. He thought about the easy confidence Fargo showed in him and the respect he felt for the Director in return.

Warmth spread through him. And a longing that he'd been ignoring for too long rose to the surface. He'd told himself, when he thought about it at all, that he just missed the friendship. He'd never had what he'd considered a best friend, before. Ever. But Fargo had become something very like it.

Something much closer and more honest than what he had with Jo.

Fuck.

Suddenly, Zane's sympathy with Jo and her unrequited crush on Carter deepened exponentially.

Leave it to him to fall for someone after they'd been gone for three months. And not just gone, but gone with the woman of his dreams. A woman he'd moved heaven and earth to save.

Zane put the bottle to his lips and drained the last of the beer.

A knock on his front door stopped him in the process of reaching for another bottle of beer.

For a minute, Zane considered ignoring it. But the people of Eureka were more persistent than that and the heavy thump sounded again.

When he opened the door, Zane was surprised to find Jo standing there. He'd figured, after the way she'd avoided him all day, he'd have to be the one to track her down, once he figured out what to say to her.

She held up the bottle of tequila and gave him that tight-lipped smile that usually meant trouble.

"I think we probably need to talk," she said, sliding by him when he just stood in the doorway and stared.

Zane nodded, closed the door and headed for the shot glasses in the kitchen.

"Yeah. Yeah. I think we probably do."


End file.
